Booster pack

Booster packs are currently packs of 10 cards from a given Expansion. Boosters offer the chance to acquire stronger cards to strengthen a Theme Deck, create new decks of cards, or customize old ones. Every booster pack is guaranteed to contain at least one Rare () card, with generally three Uncommon () cards and the remainder being Common (). Since the release of the Legendary Collection set, one reverse Holofoil print of a common, uncommon, or rare card has also been included in every pack.

Expansion

After the release of the original Base Set in 1996/1999, each subsequent release of Pokémon card sets has been known as an Expansion set. Typically four expansions are released per year. They become Standard and Expanded format legal three weeks after they are released in the United States. Expansions are grouped into a series often taking its title from the first expansion in that given grouping (itself typically based off of the title of a video game release), such as the HeartGold & SoulSilver Series, the Black & White Series, or the XY Series. Players who have collected all of the cards released in a given Expansion are considered to have a Complete set.

Half Deck

The Half Deck is popular among many Pokémon Trading Card Game players, particularly in Japan. In Half Deck play, both players use a 30-card deck instead of a traditional 60-card one and lays out three Prize cards instead of six.

Promotional card

Unlike regular Expansion sets and Booster packs, Promotional cards are not available for purchase in stores. They are given way as special gifts.
A great many Promotional card sets have been produced over the years for the Pokémon Trading Card Game.

Preconstructed Deck

Theme Deck

A Theme Deck is a Preconstructed 60-card deck that is sold pre-packaged (also referred to as Full Deck). Most Theme Decks are designed with a specific strategy (such as Special Conditions) or theme (such as Starter Pokémon) in mind. They tend not to be as strong as player Constructed Decks, but can otherwise be a sound introduction to the game for new players since they have all the cards necessary for a single player to begin playing immediately. Theme Decks are also a defined gameplay category in the Pokémon Trading Card Game Online.

Energy card

Basic Energy card

A Basic Energy card (Japanese: 基本エネルギー Basic Energy) is one unit of Energy. Energy is attached to a Pokémon card in order to use Attacks. There are nine types of basic Energy card: Grass, Fire, Water, Lightning, Psychic, Fighting, Darkness, Metal, and Fairy. The exact amount and type of Energy is required in order to use an Attack, except for Colorless Energy (for which any type of Energy can be used). For example, if the player has Grass Energy, they cannot use an attack requiring one Lightning Energy, but they can use any attacks that require Grass and/or Colorless Energy.

Special Energy card

Special Energy cards (Japanese: 特殊エネルギーSpecial Energy) are cards that provide more than one Energy card of a specific type and/or have an additional effect besides providing Energy. Some may heal the Pokémon they're attached to, add Damage to their Attacks, or may even provide several different types of Energy at once. A majority of them provide only Colorless energy; however, there are several which provide one or more of any type of Basic energy.

Formats

Expanded format

Expanded format defines which cards may be used in officially-sanctioned Play! Pokémon events. This format was introduced in the 2014-2015 season. It allows a greater number of expansions than the Standard format but is not as unpredictable as the Unlimited format. It remains to be seen if Play! Pokémon will begin rotating out sets once per year, after the World Championships, as they currently do with the Standard format.

Standard format

Standard format defines which cards may be used in officially-sanctioned Play! Pokémon events. This format was previously called the Modified format prior to the 2013-2014 season. Standard format cards are also known as Standard-legal or Modified-legal. The current Standard format rotates sets that are usable once per year, usually after the World Championships.

Miscellaneous terminology

Active Pokémon

The Active Pokémon (Japanese: バトルポケモン Battle Pokémon) is the Pokémon that the player has chosen as their main lead. During the player's Turn, they are able to attach Energy cards and Pokémon Tools to their Active Pokémon, evolve it, use a Level Up card on it, Attack with it or Retreat it. The Active Pokémon is also sometimes referred to by the opponent as the Attacking Pokémon or, if affected by an opponent's attack, the Defending Pokémon.

Arena

Bench

During play, any Pokémon that are not considered to be the Active Pokémon may be put onto the Bench (Japanese: ベンチ Bench). These are classed as Benched Pokémon (Japanese: ベンチポケモン Bench Pokémon), of which each player can have no more than five at a time. They cannot Attack or Retreat, but they may be able to use Abilities, Poké-POWERS and Poké-BODIES if they do not state that the Pokémon must be Active to use them, and they can also be switched out into the Active position if the current Active Pokémon retreats. Some attacks allow a Pokémon to deal Damage to the opponent's Benched Pokémon (and some even deal damage to the player's own Benched Pokémon). In these cases, Weakness and Resistance are not applied to the Benched Pokémon. Unlike Active Pokémon, a Pokémon LV.X card cannot be played in order to Level Up a Benched Pokémon.

Coins or Dice

Coins (Japanese: ポケモンコインPokémon Coin), also officially recognized as metallic coins, are one of two types of randomizers that players can use during a Pokémon Trading Card Game Match. The majority of official coins released are made of plastic with a metallic Pokémon design on the front. Coin flips (Heads or Tails) are an integral part of the game. They help determine which player starts a match and determine the effect on many cards. Coins have begun to fall out of favor among Pokémon players, who have gradually started to prefer the second officially recognized randomizer: dice (Six-sided Dice), for their utility and convenience, where the even number sides represent Heads and the odd number sides represent Tails.

Damage

When an Active Pokémon attacks, the Attack they use may specify an amount of Damage (Japanese: ダメージ Damage) to be done to the Pokémon being attacked, conventionally divisible by amounts of 10. Damage is tallied up, by way of Damage Counters (Japanese: ダメカン Dame-kan, short for ダメージカウンター Damage Counter), in order to Knock Out an opponent's Pokémon. Each damage counter counts as 10 damage. For example, if a Pokémon has 120 Hit Points and has twelve or more damage counters on it, it would be Knocked Out. Damage done by attacks may also be affected by the Weakness or Resistance of the Pokémon being attacked. In place of actual counters, dice are often used to indicate damage; this is very common practice and it saves time. An example would be if a Pokémon had a die with the 5 side up, it would have 50 damage.

Defending Pokémon

A Defending Pokémon is the opponent's Active Pokémon at the time that an Attack is used. When attacking, the effect of an attack may mention the Defending Pokémon in the event that it is being affected by a Special Condition or other effect.

Discard Pile

When cards are taken out of play, they are moved into the Discard Pile (Japanese: トラッシュ Trash). Either player can look at the cards in their own Discard Pile, as well as those in their opponent's. When a Pokémon is Knocked Out, it is moved to the Discard Pile, along with all cards attached to it. When a Trainer card is used, it is often immediately moved to the Discard Pile after being used. Similarly, a Supporter card is moved into the Discard Pile at the end of the Turn in which it was used. Energy cards used to Retreat or Energy cards discarded as part of an Attack or due to an effect of a Trainer card are also moved into the Discard Pile. Some cards allow the player to recollect cards from their Discard Pile.

Duel

Field

The Field is the Play Area or Playmat for a Pokémon Trading Card Game game or Match. There are also playmats that players can use that define all the special location on the field. A field is roughly split in half with each player utilizing the half closest to them. Each player’s shuffleddeck is placed face down on the upper right side of their respective half. The Discard Pile is located on the right side just below their deck. The Active Pokémon (of which each player can only have one at a time) is placed in front of the player toward the upper center of their half of the field. Their Bench is directly in front of each player. No more than five Pokémon may occupy a given player’s Bench at the same time. Finally, six Prize cards are placed face down to the left side of the each player’s half of the field.

Hand

Generally held in the player’s hands, a player’s Hand is the group of cards that only he or she is allowed to look at (not his or her opponent) and play from during his or her Turn. At the beginning of a Match, players take seven cards from the top of their respective decks and places them into their hand. At the beginning of each turn, players take one card from the top of their respective decks and also place it into their hand. Certain Trainer cards and Pokémon cards have Attacks or Abilities that may also allow a player to draw a card or cards from their respective deck.

Holofoil card

Also known as Holographic Foil, Foil, Holo, Reverse-Holo, Reverse foil or Holographic cards. They are identical to their normal counterpart aside from a Holofoil effect in the picture (Holo) or the card background (Reverse-Holo). A small amount of Rare () cards within each expansion are Holofoil. They may be pulled from Booster packs as the rare card, but it is not guaranteed. They are rarer compared to non-Holofoil rare cards.

Lost Zone

The Lost Zone is an area considered to be a more advanced form of the Discard Pile. The Lost Zone was introduced in the Platinum expansion. Unlike cards in the Discard Pile, cards moved to the Lost Zone are kept face-up and are considered to be "outside" the Play Area due to the fact they are not kept on the playmat if one is used. As such, cards moved to the Lost Zone are no longer considered to be in play, and cannot be retrieved at any time, or by any means during gameplay.

Pokémon League

A Pokémon League, often referred to simply as League, is a periodic gathering, typically weekly, of players of both the Pokémon Trading Card Game and Pokémon video games. During a League session, players battle and trade for fun. It is typically not a structured Tournament. However, each player can obtain an official Player ID. Event organizers will upload player event play information to Play! Pokémon, eventually resulting in minor prizes.

Prize card

Prize redirects here. For money given to the winner of a battle by the loser, see prize money.

A Prize card (Japanese: サイド Side) is a card taken by a player for Knocking Out one of their opponent's Pokémon. The Prize cards are laid face-down at the start of the game and are unknown from both players. When using the regular 60-card deck, six prizes are put down at the start of the game. However, three are put down if using a 30-card Half Deck, and four are put down if using a 40-card prerelease deck. When a Pokémon is Knocked Out, the opponent player takes one of their own Prize cards and places it on their hand, or two Prize cards when a Pokémon-EX is Knocked Out. The first player to take all of their Prize cards Wins the game.

Rarity

On the bottom right corner of most cards, there is a small symbol that indicates its Rarity (how easy it is to find or obtain): (Common), (Uncommon), (Rare). No symbol usually denotes a card that is part of a Promotional set or a Basic Energy card.

Reprinted card

A Reprinted card is a card that has been printed in a previous Pokémon Trading Card Game set and has been included in a newer set. When a card is reprinted, older versions of a card can still be used in Standard format and Expanded formatTournaments provided the text of the card has not changed or if a single copy of a card with the current text is set aside for reference. This reference card cannot be actively used in the player's deck.

Shuffle

Special Conditions

A Special Condition (Japanese: 特殊状態Special Condition) is a result that some Attacks have. Specific attacks may cause the Defending Pokémon to be affected by at least one of the five Special Conditions: Asleep, Burned, Confused, Paralyzed and Poisoned.

Unlike status ailments in the video games, Special Conditions are not necessarily mutually exclusive. Poisoned and Burned are recognized by placing a specific marker (known as status counters) on the afflicted Pokémon (and can be combined), while Asleep, Confused, and Paralyzed are recognized by rotating the Active Pokémon's card (thus it can only be affected by one of these at a time with the newest condition overriding the previous one). Also unlike the video games, Special Conditions are healed upon an Evolution, level-up or being switched out of the Active position and placed on the Bench.

Finally, Attack if that player has the appropriate Energy card(s) attached on that player's Active Pokémon. Attacking always ends that player’s turn. The first player to have a turn is not allowed to attack, but all other actions are allowed as described above.

Other than the first and last actions, players may perform any action in any order. Players alternate turns until one player Wins the game.

Ability

An Ability is a Pokémon power that is active for as long as the Pokémon that has it is in play. Abilities typically trigger once or multiple times during a Turn, before a Pokémon attacks. Others are active for as long as the Pokémon that has it is in play. With the release of Black & White, Pokémon Powers (Poké-BODY and Poké-POWER) were combined into one mechanic and renamed Abilities (Japanese: 特性special characteristic), after the analogous element in the main video series games.

Attack

Attacks are skills on a Pokémon card usable by the player's Active Pokémon on the player's Turn, which are similar to moves in the video games. Nearly every Pokémon card has at least one attack. When players use an attack, that player's turn ends. Every attack has an attack cost, which is printed as energy symbols to the left of the attack name. A Pokémon card can only use an attack if it has enough Energy attached to it to pay for that attack's cost. Additionally, only Active Pokémon may use attacks, although players may attach energy to Bench Pokémon in order to get them ready to attack if and when they make a given Bench Pokémon their Active Pokémon. Finally, the first player in a Match to have a Turn is not allowed to attack, although they may perform all other actions types.

Baby Pokémon

A Baby Pokémon (Japanese: ベイビィポケモン Baby Pokémon) is a type of Pokémon card introduced in Neo Genesis to be treated as a Basic Pokémon. Baby Pokémon are pre-evolved forms of existing Basic Pokémon, such as Pichu is to Pikachu, and thus are able to evolve into their respective Basic Pokémon (which are then treated as Evolved Pokémon). Up to the SkyridgeExpansion, the opponent was also forced to flip a coin when attacking a Baby Pokémon: if tails, the Attack would fail. As of the EX SandstormExpansion, Baby Pokémon are officially Basic Pokémon, and instead have a Baby Evolution Poké-POWER to allow them to evolve into their respective evolutions.

Basic Pokémon

A Basic Pokémon (Japanese: たねポケモン Seed Pokémon) is a form of Pokémon which does not evolve from any other Pokémon. A Basic Pokémon can be placed directly into play, either as the Active Pokémon at the start of the game or as a Benched Pokémon any time during play. Some Basic Pokémon, such as Mewtwo, do not evolve; some, such as Bulbasaur, do; and some, such as Pikachu can evolve from Baby Pokémon, either classified as a Baby Pokémon or with the Baby Evolution Poké-POWER. In these cases, Basic Pokémon that are evolved from Baby Pokémon or other Basic Pokémon are considered to be Evolved Pokémon. Pokémon-EX are also Basic Pokémon.

Evolution card

Evolution cards, split into Stage 1 Pokémon (Japanese: １進化ポケモン 1st Evolution Pokémon) and Stage 2 Pokémon (Japanese: ２進化ポケモン 2nd Evolution Pokémon), are types of Pokémon that evolve from other Pokémon. Both the player's Active Pokémon and their Benched Pokémon can be evolved during their Turn. Pokémon cannot evolve on a player's first turn. Pokémon also cannot be evolved more than once during a turn. Evolved Pokémon count as one card while in play, regardless of how many evolution stages it has.

Stage 1 card

Stage 1 Pokémon are placed onto Basic Pokémon (including those evolved from Baby Pokémon) and Stage 2 Pokémon are placed onto Stage 1 Pokémon. Pokémon that are resurrected from Fossils (in the original mechanic), such as Omanyte and Kabuto, are Stage 1 Pokémon, as their respective Fossil Trainer cards, Helix Fossil and Dome Fossil, are classed as Basic Pokémon.

Stage 2 card

Stage 2 Pokémon are placed onto Stage 1 Pokémon. Some cards, such as Rare Candy, even allow the player to bypass a Stage 1 Pokémon by evolving a Basic Pokémon directly into a Stage 2 Pokémon.

Mega Evolution card

M Pokémon-EX were introduced in XYexpansion and introduce the Mega Evolution mechanic featured in Pokémon X and Y. They are identified by a stylized graphic on the card name. M Pokémon-EX can only be played by Mega Evolving from basic Pokémon-EX. Doing so ends a players Turn immediately. Other than this, M Pokémon-EX share the same rules and design as regular Pokémon-EX and evolving Pokémon, with the addition of boosted Hit Points and more powerful Attacks.

BREAK card

Pokémon BREAK were introduced in the BREAKthroughexpansion. They are easily identified through the stylized golden Pokémon graphic. A BREAK card retains the attacks, Abilities, Weakness, Resistance, and Retreat Cost of its previous Evolution.

Poké-BODY

A Poké-BODY (Japanese: ポケボディー Poké-Body) is a type of Pokémon Power that is active for as long as the Pokémon that has it is in play. A Poké-BODY is sometimes reminiscent of that Pokémon's in-game Ability, such as Ludicolo's Rain Dish Ability. Poké-BODIES have a variety of different effects and can affect almost any aspect of gameplay.

Poké-POWER

A Poké-POWER (Japanese: ポケパワー Poké-Power) is a type of Pokémon Power that the player is able to use during their Turn. In a similar fashion to Poké-BODIES, Poké-POWERS can affect almost any aspect of gameplay, and can often be used once during the player's turn, before their Attack. Some can be used multiple times and some are designed to cause an after-effect to the Pokémon with it being Knocked Out.

M Pokémon-EX were introduced in XYexpansion and introduce the Mega Evolution mechanic featured in Pokémon X and Y. They are identified by a stylized graphic on the card name. M Pokémon-EX can only be played by Mega Evolving from the previous stage Pokémon-EX, and doing so ends a player's Turn immediately. Other than this, M Pokémon-EX share the same rules and design as regular Pokémon-EX and evolving Pokémon, with the addition of boosted Hit Points and more powerful Attacks.

Pokémon-GX

Pokémon-GX were introduced in the Sun & Moon expansion. They are similar to Pokémon-EX, but with two main differences - they aren't always Basic Pokémon (for example, a Pokémon that is typically Stage 1 will have a Stage 1 Pokémon-GX) and they have access to special GX attacks, which are very powerful but only one GX attack can be used per game. Like with Pokémon-EX, defeating a Pokémon-GX would net two Prize Cards.

Tag Team Pokémon-GX were introduced in the Team Up expansion. These depict pairs or sometimes trios of Pokémon, are always Basic, and are even more powerful than other Pokémon-GX, with HP ranging from 250 to 300, but defeating them nets three Prize Cards.

Pokémon LEGEND

Legend cards or Legendary Pokémon first appeared in HeartGold & SoulSilverexpansion as one of the two variants of Pokémon LV.X: the top half and the bottom half. Both card halves use the same name, so each one counts toward the four card of the same name deck rule. Pokémon Legend cards cannot be played during setup, and both card halves must be played on the Bench at the same time. The two cards count as one card while in play.

Pokémon Power

Pokémon Powers (Japanese: 特殊能力special ability) are additional effects that the Pokémon card's player can trigger once or multiple times during their Turn, before they Attack. Starting with Expedition Base SetExpansion, Pokémon Powers were split into two groups: Poké-POWERS and Poké-BODIES. Poké-POWERS are special effects that the player must trigger or announce using. A Poké-BODY's effect is one that is in effect regardless. Both, however, are still officially considered to be Pokémon Powers. With the release of the Black & WhiteExpansion, Pokémon Powers were combined into one mechanic once again and renamed Abilities.

Resistance

If a Pokémon has Resistance (Japanese: 抵抗力Resistance) to a certain type, it means that if it is Attacked by a Pokémon of that type, it will receive less Damage. While not exceedingly rare, Resistance isn't very common either — most Pokémon don't have any. An example of a Pokémon with Resistance is Ditto in the FossilExpansion set. An example a Pokémon without is Grimer in the Aquapolis expansion. The EX Dragon expansion introduced some Pokémon-ex with two different Resistances on the same card, such as Rayquaza ex. Resistances were initially fixed at -30 damage, meaning the Pokémon would take 30 less damage from an attack. Unlike Weakness, this rule was always printed on the card, either to the left of or above the Resistance-type in the form of "-30". As of the Diamond & Pearl set, Resistances are always -20 damage (also printed on the cards) unless on a reprint of a Pokémon card that originally had a -30 Resistance.

Retreat cost

When a player wants to move his or her Active Pokémon to the Bench, that player can Retreat (Japanese: にげる Retreat) that Pokémon. Then, a Pokémon on the Bench must replace the previous Active Pokémon. Each Pokémon has a Retreat Cost: a specific number of Energy that must be discarded from the Pokémon being retreated in order to move it back to the Bench. Retreating can only be done once per Turn. If the player doesn't have the required amount of Energy attached to discard or doesn't have any Benched Pokémon, his or her Pokémon is unable to retreat. Some Pokémon have no Retreat Cost and thus can retreat for free; others have a Retreat Cost of between one and five Energies. Any type of Energy can be used for retreating, as any Energy can count as Colorless.

Weakness

If a Pokémon has Weakness (Japanese: 弱点Weakness) to a certain type, it means that if it is Attacked by a Pokémon of that type, it will receive more Damage. Most Pokémon have one Weakness, such as Diglett in the Base Set, but some have none, such as Togepi in the Neo DestinyExpansion set. The EX Sandstorm expansion introduced some Pokémon-ex with two different Weaknesses on the same card, such as Aggron ex. Weaknesses were initially fixed at ×2 damage, meaning the Pokémon would take twice the amount of damage dealt by an attack. Variable Weaknesses were later introduced in the Diamond & Pearl expansion, with Weaknesses of +10, +20, +30, +40 and ×2. Generally, with variable weaknesses, Basic Pokémon will have a Weakness of +10, Stage 1 Pokémon one of +20, and Stage 2 Pokémon one of +30, with a select few having one of +40. There is no general pattern (except perhaps Legendary Pokémon) of Pokémon with a ×2 Weakness; although, Pokémon SP always have a weakness of ×2. From HeartGold & SoulSilver expansion onwards, Weaknesses return to ×2.

Trainer card

A Trainer card (Japanese: トレーナーズ Trainer's) is one of three main types of card found in the Pokémon Trading Card Game, alongside Pokémon cards and Energy cards. While Pokémon cards do the direct Attacking of an opponent's cards and Energy cards power their attacks, Trainers provide a more supportive role, allowing a player to search through their deck, draw cards, or other special effects. During a player's Turn, he or she may play a Trainer card from his or her hand, follow its instructions, and then typically discard it.

Stadium card

A Stadium card (Japanese: スタジアム Stadium) is one of three types of Trainer cards and is designed to change an aspect of gameplay for both players. Unlike Item cards and Supporter cards, Stadium cards cause a long-term change in gameplay and may only be removed when another Stadium card is played. They are often played in order to help the player or hinder the opponent. For example, the Battle Frontier Stadium card would not be used by players whose decks included Colorless-type, Darkness-type or Metal-type Evolved Pokémon.

Supporter card

A Supporter card (Japanese: サポート Support) is one of three types of Trainer cards. Supporter cards are based on characters who are, more often than not, included in the video games, such as Scott, Professor Rowan and Bebe. A player can only play one Supporter card each Turn, this is because they are usually very helpful to the player. They stay in play until the end of the player's turn — they are then discarded.

Pokémon Tool

Pokémon Tools (Japanese: ポケモンのどうぐ Pokemon Tool) are a special type of TrainerItem card that provide a special benefit to the Pokémon they are attached. Active Pokémon and Bench Pokémon may only have one Pokémon Tool attached to it, and it may not be removed unless specifically instructed.